Child Development Fine Motor Activities Parenting

teaching a left-handed child

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i am grateful that i have been blessed to be able to stay at home and teach Bear.  here’s why…
he is naturally a lefty
has been since he could hold a crayon. 
out of curiosity, i’ve done quite a bit of research on left-handedness and learned some interesting facts. Left-handers
make up 5-10% of the population
are more likely to pursue creativity based careers
are good at multi-tasking
most often draw people facing to the right

as a family, we have allowed Bear to eXpLoRE using boTH hands.  i have seen preschool teachers tell kids that the picture below is the “wrong” way to hold a pencil.  i didn’t want to do that to Bear…didn’t want to stifle his emerging literacy skills and cuRioSiTY of the written word.

since i know his tendencies, i can make sure that he’s using the correct tools such as left-handed scissors and quick-drying markers that won’t smudge.  other things we do is place his silverware on the left and turn his cup handles to the left. 

For more resources on lefties check out these sites: 

 

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Andie Jaye

Andie Jaye is a former preschool teacher turned stay-at-home mom of 3 kiddos. Her blog, Do.Play.Learn., (formerly named Crayon Freckles), focuses on creative learning and play ideas, as well as parenting topics. Andie strives to be honest in her approach and experiences in parenting to let other moms know that they are not alone in their struggle. In her free time, she writes childrenโ€™s books in hopes of publishing someday.

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9 Comments

  1. My daughter is a lefty. We always just let her use whatever hand she gravitated too. There are some challenges in preschool with being lefthanded but she seems to be taking them {mostly} in stride. The quick drying markers are so important!

  2. My hubby is a lefty & we thought for awhile my son would also be, but he eventually ended up a righty. We didn't discourage his left handedness in any way, he just ended up going opposite. However, when he's plays baseball, he bats left and throws right!

  3. Hooray for lefthanders!!

    We are the only ones in our right minds…

    : )

    As I like to say! : )

  4. Lots of lefties in my family. I always loved watching my Dad write. I just thought it looked so cool the way his hand curved over his pen. ๐Ÿ™‚ Children are so adaptable to everything, and I'm sure that with your extra special loving, he will never notice any difference.

  5. All 3 of my kids are left handed. My husband and I are right handed. I never thought to put their silverware to the left or turn their cup handles. That is a great idea. We put the computer mouse on the left and left-handed scissors were like a magic solution for my daughter.

  6. My daughter is 2.5 and she's very left-handed. She goes to preschool and I made sure to tell everyone that she is left-handed and so far it seems like she's keeping it, so I don't think anyone is discouraging her. ๐Ÿ™‚ I do put things on her left side and try to hand her things to her left hand, but I don't always think about it.

  7. What an interesting post, my daughter is left-handed, and was since she was very little, we have a lot of left handed relatives as well, both her grandpa's and a grandma, and an ambi. aunt. She is now a teenager, and she is very fond of math, science, and puzzle type activities. I will be curious to know if she draws people facing to the right, we've read a lot about other people who are left-handed, but not much about left handedness, now I am curious to learn more. Stopping by from the TGIF link up. ๐Ÿ™‚

  8. My husband, 4 year old daughter and I are all lefties!!!! ๐Ÿ™‚ Lefties are so proud of being lefties…it's fun. I was raised in a right handed family, while my husband has his dad as a lefty, too. I am very ambidextrous – use scissors, the mouse, write on chalkboards with my right hand. I really don't have a dominant hand. My hubby is very much a lefty and my daughter is a TOTAL lefty. Everything from the way she writes, eats, kicks/throws a ball, golfs, the direction she twirls when she's dancing….etc.

    I'll never forget my 3rd grade teacher making me sit in the front row the WHOLE year because I was holding my pencil "wrong" (exactly like your son is holding his pencil in the picture). Guess what? I am 35 and still hold it "wrong"….I think it's going to be okay. ๐Ÿ™‚

    We use a lot of colored pencils and crayons in our house to avoid the smudge. The twistable colored pencils are a lot of fun!

  9. Anonymous says:

    I'm lefthanded, but I am so thankful that my mom made sure I cut righthanded and that I learned to crochet righthanded. These two things make me not even have to think about being a lefty! I also use a normal righthanded mouse … but I move it to the left side. So righties can just move the mouse over. ๐Ÿ™‚

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